Auckland University of Technology staff and students in limbo as cuts loom – New Zealand Herald

AUT has asked four faculties to reduce staff levels by between 30 and 50 each. Another 80 general staff are also set to lose their jobs. Photo / Michael Craig

Students and staff at Auckland University of Technology are anxious about their futures after the university proposed cuts to jobs and courses.

AUT has outlined plans to cut 150 academic staff and 80 general staff, with the changes taking effect in November.

David Sinfield, a senior lecturer in art and design, said he was "in the firing line" but would not know of his fate for at least four to six weeks.

"It's extremely stressful and worrying. Everybody that I know of at AUT other than the Deans and the VC office are all in the same position of not knowing whether they will have a job at the end of the year."

Sinfield, who is the AUT branch president for the Tertiary Education Union, had been at the university for 17 years, and said this was his third round of restructuring.

"I know many people that have been there for 20 years plus, so there's a lot of people that have given their lives and their careers to AUT. And to be treated like this is actually appalling, in my view."

He said academic staff had adjusted to increased workloads, online teaching and other pressures during the Covid-19 pandemic.

"There are a lot of staff that are extremely exhausted from doing that over Covid. And to be faced with this now is really a kick in the teeth."

AUT Vice Chancellor Damon Salesa said yesterday that the proposed restructure was driven by a large fall in international student numbers, rising inflation and other economic pressures.

Universities New Zealand CEO Chris Whelan said New Zealand universities were facing the "perfect storm": flat domestic student numbers, hugely reduced international student numbers, and high inflation.

"Every university is balancing the same challenges right now wanting to retain as much of their workforce as they can for the time when we do get the students back but having to get through a period of time.

"We don't know whether it's three years, we don't know whether it's five years, we don't know whether it's longer, but basically reducing costs now, by a small amount, means that we avoid larger cuts later on."

The borders reopened on July 31, but it was not known how many international students would return or how quickly.

"We know that numbers are not going to be for 2023 anything like they were pre-Covid," Whelan said. "It's going to take time for students to come back in some cases just the flights are not available yet. There are countries like China, which have yet to fully open up and allow their students to travel."

Seven out of eight of the universities had already reduced staff by a total of around 700 during the pandemic, mostly on a voluntary basis. Massey University began a restructure in August which the union says could affect another 150 jobs.

Tertiary Education Union national president Tina Smith said AUT's latest restructuring did not necessarily foreshadow further, broader cuts across the university sector.

As a relatively new university, AUT did not have the same financial reserves as more established institutions, she said.

It also has a relatively high rate of international students, meaning the border closures have had a greater impact on its financial situation.

Smith said many students were concerned about the proposed cuts and were trying to decide what they would do next year.

"These moves to cut staff are not encouraging students to stay or go to AUT. It is such a lose-lose situation."

AUT has asked four faculties to reduce staff by between 30 and 50 members: Design and Creative Technologies; Culture and Society; Business, Economics and Law; and Health and Environmental Sciences,

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Auckland University of Technology staff and students in limbo as cuts loom - New Zealand Herald